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Farm Food Tour Recap

You all know I am always up for an adventure and I recently went on a Farm Food Tour to get the scoop on farms & food! I always find it interesting to learn about all things food. Where it comes from, the process, how we find it in stores.

There will inevitably be an on going debate about what to eat and so on. On my recent trip through the farms of Kansas I was able to visit a variety of farms, all run by families that really care about what they are producing.

FARMS

Over the course of the 3 days we went to a few different farms. On Juniper Hills farms we were able to see first hand what a vegetable farm looks like. They grow everything from pumpkins to kale. For me this was my favorite of the farms as most often farms we think of animals, but so much of the food we eat is grown naturally.

We also visited Craig & Amy Good’s Pig farm. Here we had lunch catered by The Fork in the Road. On this farm we were able to see baby pigs, momma pigs and boars. We learned about how they raise hogs and got a look into the process of operating a farm.

Next up, we switched the animals to goats and visited Rowantree Fiber Farm. The amount of things we use their wool (or fiber) for is pretty amazing. This farm is run by a first-generation of farmers and they were full of passion about taking care of their animals and creating products with their wool.

We also went by Baldwin Farms. This was so fun because one of the owners of the farm, Kim was along with us for the ride the entire time. It was fun to be able to talk with her and get to know her before visiting her farm. This farm was full of fun with combines, tractors and so much corn. Kim explained to us that they actually sell their corn as popcorn and gave all of us a bag of corn. Make sure you’re following along with me on instagram because when I get around to popping it, I’ll be sharing.

We really got a variety of farm visits on this trip and stoped by Heidi Well’s Dairy farm, as well. It is really interesting learning about the different breeds of animals that are used for different farms. The dairy cows are milked twice a day and they provide milk from their farm to the stores we shop at.

We finished off the farm tour at Jacquelyne Leffler’s family farm. She is a 4th generation farmer on her family owned and operated farm. On their farm they raises soybeans, corn, wheat and cattle. I found it really interesting talking with the family and understanding the life of farmers. 97% of farms are family owned and it takes a lot of dedication from the entire family to keep the farm going.

Overall. it was really eye opening to visit all of these farms. I learned how much hard work and dedication goes into farming, no matter what the farm specializes in farmers have to work on a variety of roles to stay successful. At all of the farms we visited everyone was very dedicated and truly cared about their animals, crops, etc. It made me feel good knowing that what they are producing for people is well taken care of.

FOOD

On this tour we not only saw farms and learned more about the farming industry but we enjoyed some delicious food, too! On the first night we had dinner at Liquid Art Winery. Pizza & wine with beautiful scenic views made for a wonderful evening. This winery is gorgeous and opened up my eyes to a whole new idea of farming, the vineyards!

I really appreciated that this trip allowed us to try a variety of different things and see many different types of places across Kansas. We also stopped by The Swedish Crown where we got to try a restaurant with authentic Swedish food located in Lindsborg a Swedish community that celebrates their heritage.

We enjoyed a private dinner at one of the cutest restaurants I’ve ever been to, Courtyard on Main. This unique family owned restaurant served relish food and an elegant, beautiful atmosphere.

We finished off our trip stopping in Wichita on our way home at The Kitchen. Another wonderful stop that had a great selection to choose from. This restaurants is owned by a previous attendee on the #FarmFoodTour and I thought it as pretty incredible that she took her love for food and turned it into an amazing restaurant!

KANSAS AG FACTS

On the #FarmFoodTour we were provided with a lot of information and I thought I’d share a few facts I found interesting about Kansas AG.

CORN – Corn has many uses, not only is it used to feed livestock, but it is also used as fuel in the form of ethanol. There were over 645 million bushels in 2018.

SUNFLOWERS – The most beautiful of all the flowers, right?! With 74,250,000 lbs used in 2018 these beauties are used as sunflower seeds, sunflower oil and used to feed cattle. Plus, they are just extra beautiful to look at.

DAIRY COWS – Until this trip I really had no idea there was such a difference between dairy cows and other cattle. Kansas is home to 160,000 of these cows on 300 different dairy farms throughout the state.

SOYBEANS – If I had a farm, I’d for sure attempt to grow soybeans. These are used to feed animals, create fuel and more. Plus, you can get creative with them and many people even snack on them in different ways, like chocolate covered…yum!


I learned so much on this trip and am so happy it opened by eyes to see that we can taken comfort in knowing that there are many people working everyday with passion and heart to keep farms running and feeding people.

Disclosure: I was invited on this trip by Kansas Farm Bureau & Kansas Soybean.

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